England Jurisdictions 1851

England Jurisdictions, 1851 is a powerful Internet based Geographic Information System (GIS) showing parish maps of the 40 counties in England. This mapping system simplifies research by consolidating data from many finding aids into a single searchable repository that can be accessed through the mere click of a mouse in a parish boundary. The program can be accessed at: http://maps.familysearch.org. This is a research tool provided by FamilySearch using Google Maps to visually display maps and information. For tips on using the website, look beneath the two blue buttons on the left side of the home page and click the "Find out here" link.

The ability to quickly access data in a meaningful way is critical to speeding the research process. This application will allow the speedy access of information using the following features:

Maps can be accessed by double-clicking on the physical map or by using the search box. The ability to zoom in and out will provide a general view of counties in England, or a close-up view of parishes in a county.

Layers showing the boundaries of record creating jurisdictions provide the detail and context needed to find records. Access to these jurisdictions is provided both visually and textually.

The Search feature is enhanced with additional place names extracted from a variety of sources, variant spellings, see references, and names of places smaller than a parish. Thousands of place names and spellings increase the user’s chance of finding a place in the database. A search for a place which is smaller than a parish will take the user to the data from the related parish or chapelry, thereby leading the user to appropriate records for doing research.

An information bubble appears when a jurisdiction is selected. The Info tab in that bubble will give significant information about the place, such as what type the place is, i.e., Ancient parish, Chapelry, Ecclesiastical parish, lists of places smaller than a parish. Also included are the dates the extant parish registers or Bishops’ transcripts begin and any Non-Church of England denominations identified in that specific place.

In that same bubble is a Jurisdictions tab which lists the relevant record-creating jurisdictions for the place.

A third tab in the bubble is the Options tab which provides links to data and experiences available for the user, namely:

List contiguous parishes

Radius search ¼, ½, 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 miles or km

Search the FamilySearch Catalog

Search Record Search

Search the FamilySearch Research Wiki

Due to the parish structure and the complexity and availability of finding aids, it is often difficult to identify groupings of places in a jurisdiction or surrounding jurisdictions. This product generates printable lists for many helpful jurisdictional groupings, such as the following:

Contiguous parishes

Parishes within a radius

Parishes in a county

Parishes in a civil registration district

Parishes in a hundred

Parishes in a probate district

Parishes in a diocese

Others

All data and map views can be printed. The print function gives the choice of printing: